July 2018

Volume 5, Issue 9 The Dispatcher

In this issue: Telematics Industry Insights by Michael L. Sena

GM’s OnStar 1-2 Learning from GM’s OnStar Experiment An experimental work in progress ONSTAR IS AN EXPERIMENT and it is still a work in progress. In the Dispatch Central spring of 2018, GM management hit the reset button for its twenty- Quo Vadis Circenses? two-year-old sub-brand, saying that it would return to its original Dispatch Central 1-5 LARGE AUTO SHOWS, like those purpose of providing call center services to GM vehicle owners in in Detroit and Frankfurt, can Future of auto shows need of assistance. If a crash or breakdown occurs, ONSTAR per- feel like a circus. If you are Top car brands sonnel will be there to take the call and location message and de- working in the auto industry, Veoneer spins out from liver the necessary assistance as quickly as possible. It will leave you have the feeling that the Autoliv to the main car and truck brands, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and shows are meant to flaunt German numbers GMC, the delivery of the other types of services it had added to your company’s wares to its portfolio, such as satellite radio, Wi-Fi hotspot and remote ac- other car company staff and Over-the-Air Updates 3-4 cess. The changes became effective in the U.S. and Canada on to give the media a chance to May 1st. Absolutely indispensable get a look at your latest

When I dug a bit deeper and looked at what the reset actually models so they can write EU on Mobility 5 meant in practice, I found very little was being changed, at least glowing reviews. But as you An updated strategy doc- for the moment. For example, the current three-month free trial of walk around the halls, you ument ONSTAR's full suite of offerings for new car buyers will be cut to bump elbows with real car thirty days for Buick, Chevrolet and GMC vehicles, while Cadillac buyers and knees with their

Musings 6 vehicles will stay with the longer free period. Also, the Remote kids, who are there to decide What have we done to our Access service to control key fob functions by smart phone is no if it will be a Toyota or a postal services? longer included in the basic tier of free ONSTAR U.S. services. ON- Honda that will be parked

STAR service packages have gone from three tiers to five, reinforc- outside their home. ing my feeling that it is trying to make its service descriptions and Two recent Automotive News pricing as opaque as a mobile network operator. PRECAMBRIAN PARKING LOT Newscasts discussed There is something bigger going on here, bigger than moving ser- whether there is a future for vices around and tinkering with pricing. There are reasons why in the big shows at a time when 2016 GM launched MAVEN, its ‘personal mobility’ brand, rather car makers are deciding to than bundling car sharing into ONSTAR. There’s a reason why GM concentrate one or two of is investing $1.1 billion in CRUISE to add to SOFTBANK’s $2.25 bil- them and to take part in re- lion, rather than funneling money into the sub-brand that brought gional shows. Nissan reports GM to the high-tech table. It’s not lack of gratitude, but a realiza- that 80% of its sales leads When you are a wagon maker, tion by GM management that what is being served at the table, comes from regional shows, it is difficult to see how you and the guests sitting with them, have both changed, and GM had like the one in Atlanta. AN could become a maker of motorized cars unless someone best change as well. says that 26% of first-time- shows you how you can put the buyers in the U.S. are influ- motor on your wagon. It’s useful A star is born to three parents enced by what they see at to have a look back at GM took the ‘skunk works’ approach to its first major technology their regional shows. Audi, transitions that have occurred to initiative, rather than allowing each of the then six brands it had to gain a clearer understanding of BMW and Daimler have said work on their own telematics solutions and perhaps choose the what might succeed and what is that they will not be on the probably doomed to fail. Here is best of the litter. In the early 1990s, GM engineers worked along- floor in Detroit in January, a story about Fisher Body that side staff from Electronic Data Systems (a subsidiary at the time) makes interesting reading: 2019. With CES and off-site and GM Hughes Electronics (part of GM’s Delco Electronics Divi- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fis shows taking more of the her_Body sion) to create the first in-vehicle, wireless communications device spotlight, it looks like it is with the associated service infrastructure to respond to calls for time for the OEMs to start assistance and forward the information to the public safety an- thinking hard about where swering point. Rick Wagoner, GM’s President of North American they can get the best bang Operations, introduced ONSTAR at the Chicago Auto Show in Feb- for their marketing bucks. ruary 1996, and Chet Huber was the new wholly-owned subsidi- ary’s first President. Continued next page Continued next page “Most

Telematics Industry Insights Page 2 of 6

Dispatch Central (cont.) Top Car Brand Values (continued from page 1) Learning from GM’s OnStar Experiment TOYOTA STILL NO. 1 in 2018 in brand value, according to BRANDZ Top in During the fourteen years Huber was Presi- both close and large to CADILLAC in the center, its annual Most Valuable Global dent and CEO, ONSTAR grew to over six million and GM is both distant and small. According

Brands 2018 report. It’s the sixth subscribers, built a market leading brand and to the authors, this has both positive and neg- year in a row that Toyota has been intellectual property position, generated reve- ative effects for CADILLAC. On the positive first. nues in excess of $2 billion, and achieved in- side, a strong support brand, as ONSTAR had

Toyota $29,987 dustry leading profitability. He retired from already become in 2001, reinforces consum-

Mercedes-Benz $25,684 General Motors in 2009, along with most of the ers’ buying decision for the main brand. How- company’s management, and ONSTAR began ever, by promoting ONSTAR, which is used by BMW $25,624 a new life as a division of the company alt- the other GM car lines, it detracts from the Ford $12,742 hough still legally a subsidiary corporation. added value that would be specific to CADIL- Nevertheless, the ONSTAR brand had been LAC. Go to the CADILLAC web site and you are Honda $12,695 firmly established, and it continued to operate directed to the ONSTAR web site for services. Nissan $11,425 as a revenue generator. It is the same for all of the brands. Audi $ 9,630 What’s happening and why? Driven to distraction Volkswagen $ 5,986 There could be both technical and manage- The ONSTAR brand is doing more than dis-

 ment reasons to limit ONSTAR’s reach. It is tracting customers from the car brands; it is possible that the car lines want to be able to taking whatever luster the GM star has of its Veoneer select their own wireless infotainment and own. Mary Barra has been doing her utmost ON MAY 24, 2018, the Autoliv Board connectivity architectures. They may feel that to pump up the value of GM’s share price and of Directors approved the comple- the ONSTAR design is too limiting, designed to the company’s subsequent market valuation. tion of the previously announced fit all conditions but not tailored to their own People buy shares in GM, not ONSTAR, and spin-off of Autoliv’s subsidiary Ve- ideas about how they want to express their taking the high-tech focus away from GM as oneer, Inc., its electronics segment, unique selling points to their customers. the main object of shareholder value does into an independent publicly traded nothing to help GM’s main cause. It has had a Internal brand competition for resources also company. “The strategy is to build 52-week high of $46.48 in October of last year cannot be ruled out. The Pontiac and Oldsmo- two companies focused on and ded- and a 52-week low of $34.11 last June. This bile divisions were phased out in 2009 and icated to their respective markets, is peanuts in the tech circus, where Tesla which we believe will unlock sub- 2004 respectively because GM felt they were shares sell for around $300. SOFTBANK’s in- stantial additional value. I look for- taking sales from their neighboring brands, vestment in CRUISE gives that entity a market making all of them less profitable. ONSTAR is ward to seeing both companies cap of $10 billion, a fifth of its parent’s. prosper on their own,” said Jan not selling cars, but because it is offered Carlson, Chairman, President and equally on all of the car lines, it is not creating In June, 2009, when GM entered Chapter 11 CEO of Autoliv, who from June 29, anything that is unique to any of them. reorganization, then current stockholders lost will be President and CEO of Ve- their investments. GM closed Saturn and When I heard the news about GM’s reset of oneer. It appears that Autoliv will Hummer as well as Pontiac, and sold off ONSTAR, I recalled an article I had saved that continue to focus on passive safety Saab. There were strong rumors that it was appeared in HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW that while Veoneer will concentrate on under pressure to sell ONSTAR, which was the specifically discussed ONSTAR as a GM sub- active safety and advanced driver one unit that might actually attract a deep brand. The article appeared in the June 2001 assistance systems (ADAS). pocketed buyer. GM did not put ONSTAR on issue, was titled “Seeing Your Brands Through the block, explaining that the subsidiary was Autoliv stockholders will receive one Your Customers’ Eyes”, and was written by critical to GM’s future. If the car brands take share of Veoneer common stock for Chris Lederer and Sam Hill. over more of what ONSTAR is currently provid- each share of Autoliv common ing, and initiatives like MAVEN carve out pieces stock. The spin-off is scheduled to of what ONSTAR could have delivered, it is not be completed by the 29th of June. certain that there is a secure future for ON-  STAR within the GM fold. Keine Handelskriege, bitte Rather than simply shuttering it, GM could de- In 2017, Germany exported a rec- cide to try to spin it off as it has dozens of op- ord €1.28 trillion worth of goods, erating units it either started or acquired, like 6.3% more than the year before. Delco or EDS. ONSTAR might flourish outside The car industry in German ac- of the Renaissance Tower in downtown De- counts for one in seven jobs (14%), troit where it has had its headquarters since one in three euros spent on innova- I found and re-read the article, which offered 2004, co-located with parent GM. There are tion and one-fifth of all exports by some very interesting insights. The authors plenty of companies with which a freed ON- value. In the U.S., in contrast, the created maps of brand portfolios showing the STAR could partner or which would be a per- auto industry accounts for 3.8% of relationship other brands factor in on a ‘brand fect acquisition candidate. private sector employment. molecule’ for Cadillac. Note that ONSTAR is

Page 3 of 6 Telematics Industry Insights Over-the-Air Updating Becoming Absolutely Indispensable

ANOTHER TESLA DRAMA played out in the news Inconsistency in the braking performance, CR FOTA and SOTA press in May. Once again, it brought car tech- decided to test a second Model 3 (a privately IT’S NOT EASIER THAN YOU THINK nology to the attention of everyone reading or owned vehicle that was loaned to CR) to verify listening to the daily news. This time it was not their results. CR has tested second samples in To lower costs and increase cus- an account of a Model S or Model X in Autopilot previous situations to double-check their find- tomer satisfaction, vehicle OEMs will mode crashing and killing its driver, or an Uber ings. When they ran the tests on the borrowed want to use Firmware Over-the-Air taxi driving in autonomous mode fatally injuring Model 3, they got almost identical results to (FOTA) and Software Over-the-Air (SOTA) update for both performance a pedestrian. CONSUMERS UNION, a nonprofit those on their own car. organization dedicated to unbiased product improvements and fault corrections, Car and Driver, another publication that per- testing, consumer-oriented research, public including both official recalls and forms tests and reports on the results in its education and advocacy, had released test re- non-recalls (like the Tesla braking magazine, wrote that it also experienced “a bi- sults of the Tesla Model 3 in its magazine, Con- problem). Regulators are interested zarre amount of variation,” and that one stop sumer Reports. It was not a complimentary re- in correcting faults as quickly as pos- from 70 mph to 0 took “an interminable 196 view of the vehicle that the magazine had pur- sible that are of a level of severity to feet.” chased for $59,000 due to the added cost of require a recall. An eventual stand- the long-range battery ($9,000), Autopilot and Only A-plus grades accepted ard for secure over-the-air updates other options. Among other criticisms, it re- When CR’s results became public, a Tesla rep- must absolutely address the fault ported the following: “The Tesla’s stopping dis- resentative phoned up the Director of the test correction issue, but one that cov- tance of 152 feet from 60 mph was far worse team, K.C. Colwell, and complained: “Our own ered performance improvements as than any contemporary car we’ve tested and testing found stopping distances from 60 to 0 well would be of the greatest value about 7 feet longer than the stopping distance mph were an average of 133 feet, with the to all parties. of a Ford F-150 full-sized pickup.” same tires as on the Model 3 you bought.” There are six phases of a FOTA or Then the boss, Elon Musk, waded in. Appar- SOTA update once a decision has For those who do not know CONSUMERS UNION ently, it not at all unusual for CR to speak with been taken by the vehicle OEM to and its Consumer Reports magazine, it is im- the OEMs about their test results, and Colwell perform an update: portant to note that this is not a testing house said he had a very productive discussion with for type approval testing, like TNO or NavCert. 1. Prepare the update. Mr. Musk. Tesla engineers had investigated A car company doesn’t need an official stamp 2. Obtain regulatory approvals for the problem, he said, and determined that the from CU to sell its cars in the U.S. or anywhere. the update, if required. poor results were due to “calibration issues However, a bad review can have a significantly 3. Obtain the necessary permissions with the car’s braking control system. We’ll do negative effect on sales, just like ending up at to perform the update from the au- an over-the-air update by the end of the week the low end of a J.D. Power list can be a death thorized driver or registered owner. and the problem will be fixed.” knell. 4. Manage the update end-to-end. Sure enough, a week after the negative CR 5. Confirm receipt and proper func- How the test was made test results were printed, Tesla sent out a firm- tioning of the update. CR says its braking test is meant to determine ware update notice. CR performed the update 6. Perform administrative tasks. how a vehicle performs in an emergency situa- as instructed on the vehicle’s display, and, ab- Each of these phases must be con- tion. It is based on a procedure designed by racadabra, the problem was fixed. Subse- sidered in relation to the Conditions SAE International, a global engineering asso- quent tests showed that the car’s braking dis- of the vehicle (location and status of ciation. The CR testers accelerate up to 60 tance improved by almost 20 feet. Consumer connectivity), the presence of the mph, then brake hard until the car comes to a Reports issued a statement on its web site say- Authorized Driver and the process complete stop. They repeat this many times. ing it now recommended the Model 3. for an attempt to Re-deliver the up- Between each test, the vehicle is driven ap- date if the primary process fails. proximately a mile to cool the brakes and make sure they don’t overheat. Dedicated braking FOTA/SOTA telecommunications surfaces are used and are monitored for con- standardisation must be comple- sistent surface friction. Before each test, they mented by a set of business methods make sure the brake pads and tires have been that on one hand are comprehensive properly conditioned. CR says they have per- enough to cover the full life-cycle of formed the tests on more than 500 vehicles, all vehicles and on the other can ac- and are always looking for consistent, repeata- commodate the individual practices ble results. of the vehicle OEMs from the time a In an email to CR, a Tesla spokesperson said vehicle is designed until it is taken In the first test of their own Model 3, the first that the company had improved the software out of service. The referenced docu- stop they recorded was actually around 130 for the Model 3’s antilock braking system ment identifies and clarifies the busi- feet, similar to Tesla’s findings, but they were (ABS) to adapt to variations in how the brakes ness process issues that must func- not able to repeat these results, even after they might be used and to respond to different en- tion in parallel to the technical ones. let the brakes cool overnight. Because of the vironmental conditions.

Page 4 of 6 Telematics Industry Insights

OTA Updating OTA Updating Absolutely Indispensable (continued from page 3)

HERE SAYS IT WILL DO IT FOR YOU “Until now, that type of remote improvement to How often have we heard the question: How HERE TECHNOLOGIES ANNOUNCED the a car’s basic functionality had been unheard many people would accept owning a car that launch of its new over-the-air solu- of,” exclaimed Jake Fisher, director of auto acted like our PCs and smart phones? The an- tion for vehicle OEMs, and gave it testing at CR. “I’ve been at CR for nineteen swer is 300,000, which is the number of people the name HERE OTA CONNECT. It years and tested more than 1,000 cars, and who own Teslas. A colleague told me that her was created by Advanced Telematic I’ve never seen a car that could improve its husband drives a Tesla. He works for a com- Systems (ATS), a Berlin- based track performance with an over-the-air up- pany that develops vehicle software and driv- software company specializing in date.” ing the car is part of his job. He tells her that it automotive products, which HERE is more of a toy than a car. There are days acquired in January 2018. Its tech- It’s a whole new world out there, Jake when he comes out to it and it just won’t re- nology uses UPTANE, a security Let’s leave the question about why Tesla en- spond to any commands. Sounds like any framework backed by the U.S. De- gineers had not found this problem of incon- model PC or smart phone. Well, that’s the partment of Homeland Security de- sistent braking with their own testers. I have point. It is like any model PC or smart phone. signed specifically for software that been critical of Tesla using its drivers as beta Tesla designed its cars to be operated like runs on motorized vehicles. UPTANE testers to find errors they should have found these devices. In the Model 3, that big (rather claims to be the first “compromise- themselves, and now it is using consumer unattractive, in my view) screen in the middle resilient security software solution.” groups’ testing labs for the same purpose. of the instrument console is the only interface It was developed by the New York Tesla has been delivering Model 3s to custom- to all of the vehicle’s controls. There are no University Tandon School of Engi- ers since the 24th of December, 2017, so there other knobs or buttons. neering (NYU), the University of were some several thousand of these cars on Michigan Transportation Research the roads with dangerously long braking dis- Is it game over for every other OEM? Institute (UMTRI), and the South- tances. But that’s another article. The point of Not by a long shot, but there needs to be much west Research Institute (SWRI). this article is that Tesla was able to fix a prob- more focus by all of the OEMs on the total scope of the issue. Telsa does the main parts HERE’s OTA CONNECT technology is lem that in the worst of cases—back in the designed to integrate into the vehi- Precambrian era of car manufacturing—got fairly well, but it is terrible on the details, such cle OEMs’ TSP servers and uses fixed in the next model update if it wasn’t rea- as managing an official re-call when all owners open-source technology. In other son enough for a recall, or after software re- need to be notified according to the regula- tions. In order for a standardized over-the-air words, it is not operated by HERE for placed mechanics, when the car was brought the OEM. This gives the OEM total back to a workshop, connected up to the vehi- software/firmware update process to work in control over how the process is cle brand’s workshop application and new practice, it must meet the following conditions: managed, and allows possibilities to software was downloaded.  It must address the entire end-to-end life- use OTA for problem fixes and prod- Why does it seem that it’s only Tesla that is in cycle processes for the vehicle and its uct and service sales. the OTA limelight? There are two reasons: electronics systems.   It must use the most secure and cost-ef- 1. Tesla’s are all battery electric vehicles; and, fective method for performing the up- 2. Tesla’s were designed from the ground up dates. to be computers first, cars second.  It must be designed as an integral part of owning and driving the vehicle. OTA downloads can take a long time. Some of  It must address the design of the embed- Tesla’s downloads can take up to eight hours. ded system, including how the system is The vehicle must be ‘on’ when the download activated and provisioned with its contact of the software is taking place, otherwise the logic, and how it interfaces with the mobile battery will be drained. That’s easy with an network or other networks, such as Wi-Fi. This is where we used to make cars, electric vehicle. You just plug it in to a socket  It must address what to do when a system in the engineering workshop. Alex and leave it overnight, which is the method has been de-activated (e.g. if the cus- ‘Cannonball Run’ Roy says that in most recommended by Tesla. With a non- tomer does not wish to have an actively addition to the six car companies BEV, even a hybrid electric vehicle, the car connected vehicle). Soichiro Honda predicts will be left must be driven during the download process.  The design of the system must also con- in the future, there will be MORGAN, The software/firmware download server must form to the regulations of privacy that are hand-made with all the quirks of a keep track of each vehicle as it is turned on in effect in the jurisdiction where the vehi- totally manually-driven sports car. and off to pick up with an interrupted download cle is located when the update is per- Maybe there will be special roads for until it is completed. The new code is now in a formed. those who choose to drive them. cache. Now the vehicle must be ‘off’ and  Above all, the updating process should be locked in order for the cached code to replace done in complete alignment with the the out-of-date code. The vehicle should be in safety and environmental regulations that a place where no one can go near it and set are in effect in each of the jurisdictions off the vehicle’s alarm or try to enter it. where the vehicles are sold.

Page 5 of 6 Telematics Industry Insights

EC Publishes EU Strategy for Mobility of the Future

ON THE ROAD TO AUTOMATED MOBILITY: AN EU Funding will be provided by the Commission Directive of the European Parlia- STRATEGY FOR MOBILITY OF THE FUTURE. That is to link supportive measures with key policy ment and of the Council the title of a May 17th 2018 report from the Eu- and regulatory initiatives, principally around a Amending Directive 2009/103/EC of ropean Commission to the European Parlia- set of use cases for cars, trucks and public the European Parliament and the Council of 16 September 2009 relat- ment, the Council, the European Economic transport in the 2020 timeframe. Reference is ing to insurance against civil liability and Social Committee and the Committee of made to demonstrations and large-scale test- in respect of the use of motor vehi- cles the Regions. There is no author’s name or ing that are already taking place in the EU originating Directorate General other than ‘The Member States, supported as part of the Pages 7 and 8…Furthermore, as re- Commission’. 2014-2020 Framework Programme. There gards future technological develop- are plans for calls research and innovation ments the impact assessment ex- The biblical and literary reference in the re- calls on automated vehicle proposals in 2018- plains that the obligation of the Di- port’s title to the journey of Saul on his way to 2020, with a total budget of €103 million. Re- rective to obtain mandatory motor Damascus, where he experiences an epiph- search priorities include user acceptance, de- third-party liability insurance already any (a moment of sudden revelation or insight) sign of a safe human-machine interface, road applies to autonomous and semi-au- is perhaps a bit overly dramatic. Perhaps a infrastructure to support automation and test- tonomous vehicles. The main ra- more appropriate literary reference would be ing and validation procedures. An additional tionale is the EN 8 EN continuous Chris Rea’s lyrics in his ode to the U.K.’s M25: €50 million is allocated for testing the use of need to protect and compensate vic- “This ain’t no technological breakdown…This 5G connectivity. Further, Connecting Europe tims of accidents involving autono- ain’t no upwardly mobile freeway. Oh no, this Facility (CEF), the “funding instrument to real- mous vehicles circulating within the is the road to hell.” ise transport infrastructure policy,” will provide EU. A number of accidents caused by The Commission’s intention in writing the €450 million to support ‘digitisation’ in autonomous (and semiautonomous Communication is “to set the path for the EU, transport for automation. vehicles) have occurred, demonstrat- Member States, industry, social partners and ing the need to protect EU citizens in While the U.S. backed away from actively civil society to work together and ensure that case of an accident. Furthermore, the monitoring testing of automated driving sys- the EU seizes the opportunities offered by driv- impact assessment explains that new tems at the urging of its automotive and IT in- erless mobility, while anticipating and mitigat- types of motor vehicles, such as elec- dustry, the Communication highlights the fact ing new challenges for society.” In other tric bicycles, Segways, electric scoot- that the EU is “the first region in the world to words, to stay off the road to hell and aim for a ers already fall within the scope of combine vehicle approval rules with market higher place. As is often the case with the the Directive. The use of these new surveillance rules,” and that building on this Commission when it issues its opinions, they types of electric motor vehicles in framework, the Commission will “start working are meant to be edicts. It states at the outset traffic has the potential to cause ac- on the development of a new approach for that it “now calls upon all parties concerned, in cidents whose victims need to be certifying the safety of automated vehicles particular Member States, industry, social protected and reimbursed swiftly. which will be less design-specific and more partners and civil society to support the ap- However, the current Directive also adapted to the evolutionary nature of these proach presented in this Communication.” provides Member States with the vehicles.” power to exempt such vehicles from The document’s eighteen pages are peppered Here is one statement I wholeheartedly sup- motor third party liability insurance if with references to the Commission’s favorite port: “Driverless vehicles will have to share they would consider this necessary. themes: embedding vehicles of all types in the the roads or streets with non-automated cars During the public consultation a transport system (so they can be collectively and also with pedestrians, cyclist and motor- number of associations representing managed); strengthening the links between cyclists. For this reason their deployment can the electric bicycles industry called collective and individual transport; sharing only take place once overall road safety is for an exclusion of such vehicles in public and private data to enable “fair and ef- guaranteed and not just the safety of auto- the Directive itself, arguing that re- fective competition for innovative solutions mated vehicle users.“ quiring third party liability insurance and data protection.” All players are urged to could undermine the uptake of elec- follow the Commission’s direction in order to The Commission’s final words: “Driverless tric bicycles. This is not considered make Europe a world leader in the deployment mobility is still at its early stages. The long- necessary in light of the power of of connected and automated mobility, which term impacts are uncertain and will depend on Member States to exempt electric bi- will then result in reducing road fatalities, how fast and how far the technology will de- cycles or any other new electric mo- harmful emissions and congestion. velop and the market responds…and on how tor vehicles. In that case, the na- public authorities support and steer this devel- There is an unequivocal statement on how this tional guarantee funds would bear opment to ensure that all segments of society all must unfold: “For Europe to remain compet- the costs of reimbursing victims of benefit. The Commission intends to continue itive and foster employment, it will be essential accidents caused by these new types monitoring and assessing these issues and that the key technologies, services and infra- of vehicles. This provides the highest consulting with all interested parties and may structure are developed and produced in level of protection of victims without also consider regulatory activity at EU level, Europe and that the necessary regulatory the need for any additional EU action. where needed.” framework is in place.” Musings of a Dispatcher: For the Price of a Stamp into the trash because they could the same KPIs as the postal ser- Michael L. Sena not keep up with the sorting ma- vices had back in 1999 and some Editor chine have done nothing to de- have even today, and, on top of all crease my anxiety over what mail this, was self-financing. SUNDBYVÄGEN 38 I have not received and which let- Our governments have handed SE-64551 ters I have sent that never arrived. over the value of information STRÄNGNÄS Suddenly, everything is free transfer from the channels that SWEDEN When I pressed the MS MAIL had been built up with public ‘SEND’ button for the first time money to perform these transfers PHONE: DURING A RECENT visit to the U.S., twenty-five years ago, I guarantee (i.e., the USPS) to private individ- +46 733 961 341 I went into a United States Postal you that I didn’t think about the uals and private company share- E-MAIL: Service post office, the one pic- consequences for the postal ser- holders. I can find no justifications [email protected] tured above in Clarks Summit, PA, vices around the world. On that that were performed to show that day, I am sure there was a sense such transfers were in the public www.michaellsena.com and purchased a stamp. Since 1971, the Postal Service has been of elation, that I didn’t have to print interest. Like Uber drivers simply Footnotes: an independent agency of the U.S. my letter, fold it and stuff it into an showing up on the street and Uber 1. The Swedish and Danish postal federal government. Its history envelope, buy a stamp, lick it and daring city governments to prove services are operated by PostNord stretches back to 1775 and the stick it on, write the receiver’s ad- they were illegal, mails started be- AB which was established in 2009 ing sent without stamps and with- through the merger of Post Danmark Second Continental Congress dress and my return address, walk A/S and Posten AB. The parent when Benjamin Franklin was ap- to a mailbox and then wait days or out even so much as a ‘Thank company, PostNord AB, is a Swe- pointed the first Postmaster Gen- weeks for a response. Whew! I you’. What remains of these chan- dish public limited company with eral. The Post Office Department have a vague memory of the eu- nels, those still in public form or headquarters in Solna, Sweden. phoria I felt when I sent a large re- those that have been privatized, PostNord is owned 40% by the Dan- was formed in 1792, and it became ish State and 60% by the Swedish a cabinet-level department in port as an attachment, rather than are experiencing difficult eco- State. Voting rights are shared 1872. Today, it operates the larg- having to copy the document, re- nomic conditions as they continue 50/50 between the owners. est civilian fleet of vehicles in the placing the toner, filling the paper to have the high costs of health 2. Darpa in 1973, U.S. National Sci- entire world, one consisting of bin and unblocking the inevitable and pension benefits for current ence Foundation in 1986, and then 228,000 vehicles, and it has paper blockage, taking the pack- and past employees, but have sig- many national governments and nificantly reduced income from the publicly-funded universities. around 500,000 employees, which age to the Post Office, filling out the forms, addressing the large sale of stamps. 3. The phrase is attributed to Stew- is about 50% fewer than it had at envelope and paying the postage. art Brand, founder of the Whole its height in 1999. It has the exclu- Objectives, Consequences then Earth Catalog in the late ‘60s. He ar- sive access to all letter boxes Double whew!! gued that technology could be liber- Decisions marked U.S. MAIL, and to all per- ating rather than oppressing. The Part of the elation and euphoria Now, it seems that some within the earliest recorded occurrence of the sonal letter boxes, and is legally was the feeling that it was all free. USPS feel that autonomous vehi- expression was at the first Hackers obligated to serve all Americans at It wasn’t then, and it, isn’t now. I cles are going to save the day. In Conference in 1984 when Brand told a uniform price and quality. How- pay around €150 per month for In- October, 2017, the Office of In- Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Ap- ever, it competes with companies ternet access, but the majority of ple: “On the one hand information spector General (OIG) for the wants to be expensive, because it's like FEDEX for package delivery, that is for sending and receiving USPS4 produced a report titled like the one spoiling my photo of so valuable. The right information in mails, many with attachments, on Autonomous Vehicles for the the right place just changes your life. the lovely, brick Post Office, and it my laptop, iPhone and iPad. Hon- Postal Service. In the opening of On the other hand, information competes directly with e-mail. The estly folks, how many of us spent wants to be free, because the cost the report it states “research sug- of getting it out is getting lower and U.S. Postal Service is financed not that much money sending letters, gests that while there remain lower all the time.” by taxes but by the stamps it sells. postcards or even packages stumbling blocks to adoption, the 4. The OIG achieves its mission of The stamp I bought for my grand- twenty years ago? Raise your impact to the Postal Service will helping maintain confidence in the niece’s birthday card set me back hands if you did. And to whom are potentially be significant if this postal system and improving the a whole 50¢. That’s still just one- we paying this money? Our Inter- Postal Service's bottom line through promising technology gains trac- independent audits and investiga- half the cost of a stamp in Sweden. net Service Providers (ISPs), that tion.” Nowhere in the 19-page re- tions. The U.S. Postal worker, who was route information on networks built port do the authors make the https://www.uspsoig.gov/sites/de- dressed in the familiar blue-grey with mostly public money and on slightest attempt to describe the fault/files/document-library- uniform they have always worn— the Internet backbones that were files/2017/RARC-WP-18-001.pdf problems they might address with at least as long as I can remem- all originally financed by govern- AV technology. They describe 2 ber—asked me if I only wanted ments. what it is and how it is supposed to This newsletter touches on the prin- one stamp, looking slightly disap- I believe our governments—and work, list the same justifications cipal themes of the motorized road pointed. I explained that U.S. especially our postal services— that everyone else has given for transport industry, highlighting what is happening and attempting to ex- stamps would not do me much made a major mistake when they adopting humanless-driven vehi- plain the hows and whys so that you good in Sweden, where I live. She didn’t recognize that an e-mail cles, such as increasing safety, re- can develop your own strategies for understood. She actually knew was the same as a regular mail. ducing fuel consumption and in- meeting the challenges of the future. where Sweden is, and was aware Perhaps someone did notice, but creasing worker productivity. of the fact that it is not Switzerland. was slapped down by the dot.com The problem with the U.S. Postal I felt like I could ask her to send a police with the declaration: “Infor- Service and most of the world’s 3 letter or package anywhere and it mation wants to be free.” What if other postal services is that their would be certain to arrive. I’m we had to put an electronic stamp funding source was stolen from afraid I do not have the same con- on every e-mail we sent, and had them, and while the alternative of fidence when I take my mail into to pay for every attachment, and using e-mail with attachments has the candy stores that have become these payments went to the Post been a major improvement in our post offices in Sweden.1 I worry Download your copy of Beating Office, not ISPs or, indirectly via many ways, it lacks everything Traffic by visiting when my letter or package is non- Google, Facebook and their like, that the postal services have stood www.michaellsena.com/books chalantly flipped into a bin that to advertisers? I believe we would for: reliable and secure delivery of could easily be mistaken for trash. have an electronic mail service our thoughts for the price of a And recent revelations that the pri- that was not overloaded with stamp. vatized postal services workers spam, that delivered mail, not Tro- were deliberately depositing letters jan horses and malware, that had